Plan for major expansion of campus

Plans for the eastern section of the campus. The tallest buildings are along the Mansholtlaan. Bottom left in the corner, a block of student flats is planned.

This is outlined in the provisional plans for De Born-Oost, the 10-hectare plot between the Mansholtlaan and the Grintweg. As well as NIOO-KNAW and Aeres University of Applied Sciences, the plans include another 80,000 square metres of ‘knowledge-intensive business activity’. And in one corner of the plot, near ’t Gesprek restaurant, Idealis wants to build a block of 200-250 student housing units. The planned buildings will border housing on the Grintweg to the east. To avoid impinging on these residents, the buildings on this side will be the lowest, at 13.5 metres in height (three storeys). Towards the Mansholtlaan, the height of the buildings will go up to 27.5 metres (six storeys), a little lower than FrieslandCampina. To the east of the area there will also be two multi-storey carparks.

Local residents are opposing the planned developments vociferously, accusing WUR and the municipality of creating something like the ‘Zuidas’ area of Amsterdam on the Wageningse Eng, the protected landscape to the east of the Grintweg. What really sticks in their throats is the way the plan diverges from a visual quality plan for the area drawn up in 2011. In that plan, De Born-Oost was described as ‘a work landscape with rural housing’.

Local residents oppose the plans vociferously

The plans are still in the early stages and the land use plan will have to be changed first. There is a great deal of interest among businesses, says Eise Ebbelink, head of real estate at WUR. ‘We are already consulting with various parties. And we’re already in the advanced stages with one of them.’ Construction begins next spring at the earliest and is estimated to take eight to ten years.